Sectional trailer house



July 7, 1959 F. s. PERDUE 2,893,066

SECTIONAL TRAILER HOUSE Filed Aug. 13, 1956 2 sheets-sheet 1 FREDERICK sPERDUE July 7, 1959 F. s. PERDUE 2,893,066

sEcTIoNAL TRAILER HOUSE Filed Aug. 13, 1956 A 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR. FREDERICK S. PERDUE ATTORNEY 1.-...1 adr/a, A(

United States PatentOiiice 2,893,066 Patented July 7, 1959 SECTIONALITRAILER HOUSE Frederick S. Perdue, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Application August 13,. 1956, Serialy No. 603,503

S'Clains. (Cl. 20,-2)

This invention relates: to a sectional house trailer. More.particularlyit relates to a trailerof the type described in which eachysection is an. individual unit which is capable of use independent of-the other but which maybe combined with the other unit to form aunitary structure.

It is a well-known factl that present-day house trailers havereached-thedimensional limitations for road vehicles, and if their size isincreased, they will be denied the use of the highways.

In'aneffort-to provide more space, within such limitations, Vtrailermanufacturers have resorted to the. addition oan-'upper lloor. Theheight dimension is also. limited, howeverpsince` road and'V railway`underpasses must be cleared. Such double deckfv construction is alsoeX- pensive, tends *to produce top heaviness which. makes such 4atrailer diicult totow and renders the vehicle less safe'.

Further,..such.a.trailer constitutes anundue load yfor theordinarypassengerfcar to tow.

It is, therefore, an `object ofthe invention to provide a trailerconstruction which will provide ample living space as astationaryhome-'butl `whichcan alsoy bel separated so that aportionfofthe structure `Gambe-used as a road trailer when the ownerdesires to travel.

It is` another object ofl the'invention to provide a stationaryhomewhichexceeds the dimensional limitations applying to road vehicles .butwhich ,may be separated into a number of unitsfor' transportation, eachunit of which will: be Lwithin said-*dimensional limits.

A further' object ofitheinvention is to providelindividualtrailerunitswhichmay be-assembled into Va single,weather-proof structure, each of said units being of a size which willenable fit tobeconveniently towed by an ordinary passenger car. Y

It is another object of the invention to provide separate trailer unitswhich can be assembled into a number of ways to provide dierent floorplans for the stationary home.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a large livingspace without resorting to expensive trailer construction.

These and other objects will become apparent from a study of thisspeciiication and the drawings which are attached hereto, made a parthereof and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the two trailers assembled, end toend, to form a stationary home.

Figure 1A is a detailed View showing the sealing means of the twotrailers illustrated in Figure l.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 2-2 ofFigure 1 showing the seal and end door.

Figure 3 is a bottom View of Figure 1 showing the means for joining thetwo units.

Figure 4 is a plan view showing another arrangement of the units.

Figure 5 is an elevational view of the structure of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a bottom view of a structure similar to 2 Figure 3 butv withone unit-attached near. the opposite end of the other unit showingtheimeansfor joining-the two units.

Preferred form-(Figures 1 to 3) Referring first to Figure l, the`trailer unit 11,' hereinafter referred to as the front or rst unit, issubstantially in the shape of a rectangular parallelepipedexcept thatall of the top and verticalv edges- 13and151are rounded or convex inform.

The front end 17 of unit 11 is provided with'thefus'ual angle frame19'which is rigidly. attached to-framestructure 21 of the unit and isprovided with the caster 23.' In addition, suitable jacks 25 may beprovided-toflevel and support the structure.

The unit is provided with the usual shell structure'27 which is mountedon the frame 21.

Doors 29 and windows 31 are provided wherever-required.

Unit 11 is an independent, separately portable trailer and is providedwith a door (notl shown) in its' rear end wall the frame of which alignswith the frame of the door 33' (Figure 2) in the frontend of thesecondor rear .unit 35. The doors just mentioned open inwardly-of theirrespective units, and when theunits are joined, one of the doors may beremoved.

The rear unit 35 is of generally the same form as the front unit withthe exception that its'front end,` instead of having a rounded topcorner has a concaved top corner` 36 so that it will receive and fitover the corresponding convex corner of the front unit.

A suitable sealing means 37 of rubber or other yieldable material isfixed to all ofthe front end corners of the unit 35 so that it willsealingly engage the rear end of unit lland prevent the entrance ofrain, dust,=etc., between the ends of the units.

The rear unit is provided with suitable doors 39and windows 41 and withthe usual Wheel structure 43 suitably attached to its frame 45. Therequired removable jacks y4'7 may also be provided to level and supportthe rear unit when it is stationary.

As shownin Figure 3, the framesv 21 and 4S comprise longitudinal members49 and 51 respectively which support cross members 53 and 55respectively,` the latter being disposed above the longitudinals.

To join the two units when they occupy kthe endwise abutting relationshown in Figures -1 and 3, the plates'57 are disposed on opposite sidesof the longitudinal members so as to overlap the ends thereof,andsuitable bolts 59 are passed through the members and plates and drawndown to hold the members in proper alignment.

Modified fama-(Figures 4 to 6) Referring now to Figures 4 to 6inclusive, it will be seen that by reason of the form of the front endof the unit 35, the two units may be assembled into an L-shapedstructure as shown in Figure 4. This arrangement makes it possible topartially enclose a space 61 which may serve as a patio which may beprovided with iiagstones or with a ower garden, etc., to make the homemore attractive and interesting.

It is to be noted that, as shown particularly in Figures 4 and 6, theunit 35 joins the unit 11 beyond the rear end of the latter so that therounded corner 15 is cleared. This permits the seal member 37 to engagethe at sidewall of unit 11 and insures a proper seal.

It will be noted also, that the door 33 of the rear unit must be alignedwith the rear side door 29 of the front unit to permit passage from theinterior of one unit to the other.

From Figure 6 it will be seen that the longitudinal members 51 of therear unit abut the side of one 0f the longitudinal members 49 of thefront unit and plates 57 are disposed on opposite sides of thelongitudinal members so as to overlap the ends of the cross members 53,and suitable bolts 59 are passed through the cross members and platesand drawn down to hold the members in proper alignment.

The units are thus rigidly connected to maintain the oors of the unitsat the same level and to insure that the seal afforded by the member 37is maintained elective.

When it is desired to travel with one of the units, the connecting bolts59 or 65 and the associated plates or angles are removed, the jacks areremoved from the unit to be used, the door in the end is replaced andthe front unit is ready for transport.

In the event it is desired to use the rear unit instead of the frontunit, the A-frame 19 may be removed from the front unit and installed onthe rear unit or a separate A-frame may be used.

In case it is necessary to move both units, separate automobiles may beused or the entire structure can be moved by making two trips.

It should also be noted that the rear unit can be aligned with front,side door of the first unit as shown in Figure 6 if this is desirable orconvenient.

It is obvious that various changes may be made in the form, structureand arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of theinvention. Accordingly, applicant does not desire to be limited to thespecific embodiment disclosed herein primarily for purposes ofillustration; but instead, he desires protection falling fairly withinthe scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A mobile sectional trailer house comprising at least twoself-contained trailer units, the end wall of one of said units beingconcave in shape so as to fit the convex exterior contour of the entireportion of the other unit and sealing means mounted on the end of saidone unit in position to sealingly engage the exterior of the other unit.

2. The structure dened by claim 1 wherein each unit includes a bottomframe comprising a number of longitudinal members and connecting meansare provided for fastening the members of the two units together to forman integral structure.

3. A mobile sectional trailer house comprising at least twoself-contained trailer units adapted to be transported by an automobileon a conventional highway, each having a bottom frame, the end wall ofone of said units having substantially the same cross-sectional shape asa side wall thereof, one end wall of the other unit having acrosssectional shape which conforms with and is adapted to fit theexterior of either of the rst mentioned walls and means for connectingsaid bottom frames together to hold the units in assembled relation sothat they form an integral structure.

4. The structure dened by claim 3, said one end having a seal adapted toengage said one unit and wherein said one end wall denes a doorway andwherein said one unit denes a number of doorways in said end and sidewalls, with any of which doorways said rst mentioned doorway may bealigned by selective assembly of the units according to any one of anumber of door plans.

5. The structure defined by claim 1 wherein the wall of the seal bearingend of said one unit denes a doorway and wherein one side of said otherunit denes a doorway, said doorways being positioned so that they willbe aligned when said units are positioned with their lengths at rightangles to each other.

6. The structure defined by claim l wherein the wall of the seal bearingend of said one unit deiines a doorway and wherein at least one side andother end of said one unit denes a doorway, said doorway beingpositioned so as to be aligned selectively when said units arepositioned whereby said units may be selectively positioned to form ahouse in either of two floor plans.

7. The structure deiined by claim 1 wherein said sealing means extendsentirely around the periphery of the end of said one unit so as to sealthe joint between the two units entirely.

8. The structure defined by claim 3 wherein the vertical corners of saidone unit are curved about a vertical axis and which includes sealingmeans mounted on the tting end of said other unit for sealing engagementwith the sidewall of said one unit, means for connecting said units withseal bearing end of said other unit abutting a sidewall of said oneunit, said other unit being spaced from the end of said one unit adistance at least sufficient to clear the curved surface forming theadjacent corner of the one unit to insure complete engagement betweensaid sealing means and said one unit.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,154,142 Whelan Apr. 11, 1939 2,247,340 Webster June 24, 1941 FOREIGNPATENTS 186,809 Great Britain Oct. 12, 1922 833,658 France July 25, 1938597,294 Great Britain June 22, 1948 OTHER REFERENCES ArchitecturalRecord, page 89, May 1939,

